I can't understand why gas prices are so high! When I bought my 9mi./gal. Mega SUV, gas was only $1.50/gallon! So tradin' my car that got 20 mi./gal. didn't seem so bad. Sure my weekly/monthly/yearly gas expenses doubled then, but I didn't know that at the time because there was no estimated Miles Per Gallon sticker on the window. I learned later that it wasn't required because it was a "truck". And that darn salesman didn't tell me anything about gas mileage! He just kept talkin' 'bout how good I looked there in the driver's seat, and how that baby would get me most anywhere. Ground clearance, four wheel drive and horse power that would pull down a tree stump; and seatin' for 9. 'Course I only got's two kids and don't have no tree stumps that need pullin' down, but who knows when you might have to take a baseball team on safari?! Besides, that commercial where the mother drops off the kid at skool who was being bullied really convinced me that I needed all them things.
That salesman was real good at figurin' too. He kept clickin' away at that calculator 'till he figured a way I could afford the monthly payment. I nearly kissed him when he got a monthly payment I could afford! He didn't tell me the payments were for 7 years! But then when I couldn't afford the monthly payment plus the extra gas, and wanted to trade for somethin' a bit smaller, he said I was "upsidedown"! I said, "What you mean boy? I'm standin' here on my feet. I ain't "upsidedown"! Then he said somethin' about owing more on the vehicle than the trade-in value. But he wasn't clicking his calculator like when I bought the Mega SUV!
I thought about carpooling. But I just like ridin' to work by myself. I got my own routine. I don't like the coffee where the other guy stops. And I like listening to my own radio station while I'm stuck in traffic. Too much of a hassle that carpooling!
They want to let them Hybrid vehicles drive in the HOV lanes. They're mostly rice burner's! I say let us real American's drive our SUV's there! Hell, Toyota just passed GM as the biggest car manufacturer in the world. Can't understand why!

i know some of the SJ contributors who know my sense of slightly warped humor are gonna bark(laugh) at this but..........when it comes to gas prices i'm paying $2.83 here in the shadow of wachusett in central mass. now thats for regular..............my 88 nissan z car does very well on mpg..prob...about 27mpg all around average. the 2001 rodeo,great... cause of the comfort -space-and 4wd for ski trips.well-thats another story....it prob gets 19 mpg at best.

i have this theory.................the gas pumps are wired up to LM-393 comparators.these comparators are set to measure DC voltage as the Gas Pump is operated-----if the 393 chip senses a ford focus,it kicks into low gas mode operation....and the driver and passengers ---if they weigh under 150lbs each.....get more bang for the buck. NOW...if along comes a SUBURBAN or HUGE SUV.....the 393 chip ends up Raising the price of regular grade gas to about $4.00 a gallon....more or less...due to the fact that the vehicle and its (most likely) 300lb occupants ----are setting the gas pump to overload conditions.
This situation is kicked into overload drive...only,and i stress only,when the people are the size of Chris Farley.....or bigger.(rest his soul).....................and munching on Wendys Triples.....

i think i feel much better about this....................now that i got it off the "worry" list! regards---brian o comments invited......

The real problem with public transportation in anything but America's largest megalopoli is bad schedules and limited routes.

I think that being fed a bitter pill of higher petrol prices will make regional transit authorities see the light and begin to model their systems after those in the EU: regional buses and trains that stick to a schedule that is frequent and predictable. Make larger towns hubs for these services, and coordinate between services.

Granted, the weak link in this is train service, as many regional spur lines were destroyed in the post-war "cars are best" trend. Thankfully, many have been converted to MUTs (multi-use trails), which can act as a supplement to the motorized transit.

It can be done - I just don't think that most transit authorities (or the voting public) have had any real inclination to try.

This is another short term thing like it was four years ago. There is plenty of supply and the price bubble will burst eventually but probably not in time for the summer which will hurt.

Even if these prices held until next winter it's hard to see it having a dramatic effect on most peoples skiing habits. When you consider what a day of skiing costs, the incremental cost of fuel is not a big deal.

Even if these prices held until next winter it's hard to see it having a dramatic effect on most peoples skiing habits. When you consider what a day of skiing costs, the incremental cost of fuel is not a big deal.

It effects the ski areas much more than their skiers, which results in more cost passed down (assuming the ski area doesn't fold).

My feelings are screw the gas prices right now. I'm going to ski all I can and I'll make up the cost this summer when my wife & I spend our weekends on the patio/pool drinking good beer and listening to Bob Marley & Jimmy Buffett

From my experience in a manufacturing/processing environment a general rule of thumb is that raw materials are roughly 40% of the retail cost of a manufactured or processed item. If you take away the tax on gas the raw material cost is about 75% of the retail cost. But then most raw material suppliers don't have an OPEC.
But when you factor in the cost of wars in the middle east that we would have no interest in were it not for oil, the cost of a gallon of gas is actually much higher.

Cisco. You are down to $3.33 consider yourself lucky. Here in the Adirondacks of NY(Lake Placid, Saranac Lake area) we dropped a whole .10 from $3.87 to $3.77, WHOOPEE! We seem to get screwed here more than most places. I drove through Watertown Ny recectly and they were .20 per gallon less and they are only 100 miles away. Same goes if you go to the Albany area, way less than we pay. I think all the players, oil companies, refineries, wholesalers and retailers are screwing us any and everyway possible at all times. if you notice the world markets whenever oil goes up a dollar or so a barrell our gas prices rise the next day at the pump. But when the price of oil drops by over 10% like it has in the last month or so our pump prices remain steady or maybe drop a few cents a week or more after the world price drops. All that said we still have relatively cheap gas prices compared to Europe or even Canada for that matter.